Britain’s
top family judge has rejected a Slovenian man’s demands that hundreds of court
documents be translated into his language – at a cost of £23,000 to British
taxpayers.

The
father, who lives in the Midlands, but cannot be named for legal reasons, is
locked in a legal row with a British council over his young daughter’s care,
wanted 600 pages of text translated into his mother tongue.

Otherwise,
he argued, he “could not participate” in a court dispute with crucial
implications for his family life.

His
lawyers argued that the £38-a-page translation cost should be shouldered by theLegal Aid Agency (LAA).

But
Sir James Munby, President of the High Court Family Division, blasted the
“striking” request and ruled that less than 10 per cent of the documents needed
translation.

The
judge made a “plea for restraint in the expenditure of public funds”, saying
the amount of taxpayers’ cash available is “limited” and must be “husbanded
properly”.

He
added: “It is no good complaining that public funds are available only for X
and not for Y if money available for X is being squandered.

“Money
should only be spent on what is ‘necessary’ to enable the court to deal with
proceedings ‘justly’.”

Sir
James said the Slovenian resident, referred to as “K”, is embroiled in care
proceedings with Warwickshire County Council over the future of his
eight-year-old daughter.

K
does not speak English but does have the benefit of a solicitor who speaks
Slovenian.

It
was agreed that some of the documents needed translation - at a cost of just
over 10p a word.

But
the LAA’s eyebrows were raised when K’s lawyers requested that 591 pages be
translated - at a total cost to the public purse of £23,000.

The
agency rejected the request, last December, saying: “It is accepted that if the
client cannot speak or read English he does need to understand the evidence.

“However,
it is very unlikely indeed that he will actually [need] to read such a large
volume of the documentation”.

The
case was referred to Sir James, who criticised the lawyers involved for
submitting a bundle of legal documents which was two-and-a-half times the size
of usual judicial limits.

He
said there was “absolutely no excuse” for being unfamiliar with directions
limiting the size of files submitted in family cases.

Man classed
high suicide risk kills himself after being discharged twice by hospital

A
man who believed he was possessed by the devil killed himself after being
discharged from hospital twice in 24 hours.

Simion
Costin suffered hallucinations, and was initially assessed by staff in the
emergency department at Leicester Royal Infirmary as a high suicide risk, an
inquest heard. But language problems and mislaid notes meant the two
psychiatrists who saw him did not get a full picture of his mental state.

Mr
Costin was not admitted nor given any medicine to control his condition. Instead,
he was encouraged to register with a GP and sent home. But within three days,
he had killed himself.

Mr
Costin, who was Romanian, was working in a car wash in Wigston. His friend,
Ionut Budu, who also worked at the car wash, told the inquest Mr Costin was
well-liked, but began acting oddly in the first few weeks of 2014. Then in
March, the situation got worse.

“He
thought he was the devil and people he came into contact with were going to
die,” said Mr Budu, speaking through an interpreter. “He also said there was
something inside him, an insect or something. “He also said he wanted to kill
himself.”

Mr
Budu and workmates were so alarmed they took him to Glenfield Hospital, and
later to Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI). An initial assessment carried out by
emergency department staff, with the help of a Romanian doctor, said Mr Costin
was a high suicide risk. The inquest heard that Mr Costin had made an attempt on
his life by jumping out a second floor window in Romania nine years earlier. His
case was handed over to the Leicestershire Partnership Trust for a full mental
health assessment, but there was no Romanian interpreter available. Five hours
later, Dr Rafizul Islam carried out a two-hour assessment with the help of Mr
Budu, and a security guard who spoke Italian. Mr Budu said Mr Costin could
speak a little Italian having worked in Italy. But Dr Islam, who did not see
the initial assessment, assessed that Mr Costin was not a risk to himself, and
discharged him with a leaflet about registering with a GP.

The
following afternoon Mr Costin had to be restrained by workmates after he
started screaming. Police and ambulance were called and he was taken to the
emergency department at LRI. It was not until 10.15pm, after a interpreter had
been contacted, that he was seen by trainee psychiatrist Dr Christina Evans. However,
Dr Evans had no notes to refer to as they had been “mislaid”. She assessed Mr
Costin as suffering from a depressive condition. He had told her that he was
returning to Romania in the next couple of days to be with his wife and
daughter whom he missed deeply. She told the hearing: “I felt that going back
to Romania was a better option than admission or medication.” But she admitted
she had made her decision on insufficient information.

Mr
Budu said Mr Costin had no travel plans arranged. He added that Mr Costin’s
were so worried he would kill himself they hid all the knives in their shared house,
and wanted him to be admitted to hospital. “They did not admit him,” he said.
“They also did not give him anything to calm him down.”

Three
days later, on March 25, Mr Budu found Mr Costin on his bedroom floor. He had
cut his throat, and could not be revived. Coroner Catherine Mason asked Mr
Budu: “Do you think the hospital failed to take your friend’s condition
seriously?” He replied: “Yes I do.” Mrs Mason said it was clear Mr Costin was
unwell. She praised his friends for doing all they could to keep him safe. In
conclusion, Mrs Mason said: “Mr Costin took his own life while his mind was in
a state of imbalance.”

Dr
Mohammed Al-Uzri, clinical director of adult mental health and learning
disability services at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT), told the
hearing that an investigation had taken place following Mr Costin’s death. He
said standardised assessment documents had been rolled out across the trust to
avoid confusion in the future. Assessment notes were now logged digitally so
they would not be “mislaid” in the future, he said. Procedures now emphasised
the need to speak to friends and relatives to obtain background information,
said Dr Al-Uzri. He told the hearing that the trust’s policy was to employ
professional interpreters.

Coroner
Catherine Mason said she was pleased the LPT had made changes after Mr Costin’s
death.

In
a statement after the inquest, Dr Al-Uzri said: “We are deeply saddened by the
death of Mr Costin and our sympathy goes to his family.

“Following
his death, we carried out a detailed review of Mr Costin’s care.

“Our
investigation identified ways we could improve the way relevant information
about the patient is taken, recorded and acted on in the future – and we
welcome the coroner’s comments that she is pleased to see the changes that have
been introduced.

He
added: “The Trust is also extending its nurse-led assessment and triage service
at LRI to provide 24-hour cover.”

Mrs
Mason said she would write to NHS England for them to consider rolling out a
standardised assessment document.

She
is also going to contact University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to urge it
to adhere to a policy of employing professional interpreters and not rely on
staff members filling in.

A
spokesperson for Leicester’s hospitals said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Costin’s
family and friends for their sudden and tragic loss.

“We
absolutely recognise the importance of an accessible and prompt translation
service and would like to assure visitors to Leicester’s Hospitals that we take
this very seriously. Upon receiving the coroner’s letter we will address the
concerns raised as a matter of urgency.”

The rest
had no help at all, and 19 told them to come back with a friend or relative who
could speak English.

The
watchdog said they have received reports from community groups saying support
isn’t provided once registered.

A
spokesman for the IMECE Women’s Centre, which works with Turkish, Kurdish and
Turkish Cypriot women who are often refugees, said: “This is a huge issue for
our community and for women in particular, especially in domestic violence
cases where the husband and the husband’s family can control the domestic
violence survivor through the interpreting.

“GPs are
a very important contact for women, so it is important to ensure that women are
able to speak directly to this health professional.”

Gill Tan
of the Islington Chinese Association said: “Our clients are told to bring a
friend or relative to interpret for them at the doctor’s.

“Their sons
and daughters find it difficult to take time off work to accompany and
interpret for them. Our clients feel like a burden, so they don’t ask their
children, they suffer in silence.”

Emma
Whitby of Healthwatch Islington said: “Interpreting services are available to
all GP practices in the borough, at no cost to individual practices. Face to
face interpreting needs to be booked in advance, but telephone interpreting is
available more or less immediately. We’d like to see all practices use these
services whenever there is a need.”

Wednesday, 18 February 2015

Looking
at the raw figures for money spent on translation services in Sheffield over
three years, the cost looks significant.

However,
before we cry foul it is worth breaking down the numbers.

The
figures show more than £555,000 was spent by the authority on face-to-face and
telephone interpretation. Documents were also translated into 44 different
languages between 2011 and 2014, at a cost of more than £131,785.

Face-to-face
and telephone calls, which make up the vast majority of the total expenditure,
all require paying for someone’s time. Experts by their very nature are
expensive but should be used so the job gets done right first time.

There
will be many that say the money could be spent on other things. True, it could.

But
Sheffield is a large multicultural city and these sort of services are
necessary.

Of
course, newcomers to Sheffield, and the country in general, should be
encouraged to learn the language as quickly as possible. Not only does it speed
up a sense of belonging but it also helps with day-to-day matters.

The
question of translation services can be used as a political football.

Costs
must always be kept to a minimum but the job still needs to be done.